032. Coffee Shop
In the university dormitory, the highest level of “mommy issues” usually happens when a few roommates start gaming together.
Whether it’s the normally well-mannered, never-swearing type or the shy, introverted one who rarely speaks, when they dive into gaming, you can bet they’ll be spouting every imaginable curse word and some sweet nothings that are definitely too “mom-friendly.”
Zhang Shaoqing is the one with the least quality control; Wang Jie, the resident gaming hermit, turns into a chatterbox, and even the usually clean-mouthed Wen Yang occasionally lets a curse slip.
Then there’s Ning Chu, who’s just sitting there, staring blankly at his black-and-white screen, completely out of place and unable to utter a word.
Two hours later, their friendship boat capsized spectacularly.
“d*mn it! I’m done!” Zhang Shaoqing tossed his mouse aside. “Seriously, after two hours, not a single win? Who’s to blame for that?”
“Done already? I’ll just take a nap, then.” Wang Jie stretched lazily, one eye half-open, shutting down his computer. “I’ll be back for a rematch next time.”
Wen Yang glanced at the time—only one o’clock in the afternoon—and suddenly felt a spark of inspiration.
Just as a bad idea crossed his mind, he instinctively looked at Ning Chu.
There’s no way he could find some unarguable excuse to keep him in the dorm, right?
He just didn’t understand Ning Chu’s need to do this.
Ning Chu was tired too; as a newbie, he felt utterly drained trying to game with his roommates. Resting his head on the desk, his eyelids were already in a fierce battle.
He was still hoping to lock Wen Yang in the dorm for the entire afternoon.
Rubbing his eyes, his brain foggy, he kept reminding himself of his mission: keep Wen Yang’s precious virginity intact!
“Wen Yang, you taking a nap?”
If Wen Yang fell asleep, this dangerous afternoon might just pass!
“I’m going out for a bit,” Wen Yang replied, shaking his head. “You should sleep; I’m heading to the coffee shop outside. The boss lady invited me to help try some new items this weekend, but I’ve never had the time.”
Trying new items? Are you trying the boss lady instead?
There’s actually no scene in the book about this, but Ning Chu was still uneasy. Wen Yang’s protagonist aura was too strong; almost all the girls were after him. So even without any dramatic plot device, he could easily end up in a sticky situation.
“It’s raining so heavily…”
“Just use an umbrella.”
“Well, can I go too? I like coffee as well.”
Ning Chu was running out of excuses, so he switched plans.
Wen Yang didn’t seem to mind, nodding as he bent down to put on his shoes.
“Tag along? You two should just become one person.” Zhang Shaoqing teased them as usual, sounding extra annoying.
“Look who’s talking!”
Grabbing his folding umbrella, Ning Chu suddenly kicked Zhang Shaoqing’s chair hard, then cursed a bit while quickly following Wen Yang out of the dorm.
Outside, the rain was pouring down like someone up there opened a fire hose, and the clouds occasionally flashed with lightning.
“This rain is insane… I’ll be soaked even with an umbrella.” Ning Chu frowned at the rain curtain. “Are we really going right now?”
“It’s not good to keep bailing, and I don’t have anything else to do this afternoon,” Wen Yang said, leading the way under the umbrella. “It’s close by, and there are several new coffees and snacks to try. By the time we get back, you probably won’t be able to nap.”
This guy really thinks he’s just going to sample some new items, huh?
Ning Chu was speechless, trailing along beside him.
Actually, he wanted to verify his suspicions: besides the female characters that had a “battle buddy” relationship with Wen Yang, would the other female characters, who were never mentioned in the book, do things like give him freebies, seduce him, or push their way into his life just because of his protagonist aura?
The shy girl who delivered the sour plum soup in the morning and the coffee shop boss lady—those were characters that had never made it into the storyline.
In the torrential rain, water inevitably seeped under the umbrella.
As they walked, Wen Yang kept stealing glances at Ning Chu, moving a couple of steps closer. “So, what type of girl do you like?”
“Huh?” Ning Chu blurted out, “A nice figure and pretty.”
“Don’t you care about the personality at all?”
The way Wen Yang said it made Ning Chu feel as though he was being called superficial.
But you know what? Ning Chu was totally fine with being superficial and was about to nod vigorously when he suddenly realized he couldn’t let his poor worldview infect Wen Yang.
So after pondering for a moment, he seized the chance to brainwash him: “I do, actually. I’m much pickier about personality. If I were to date a girl I really liked, it’d definitely be heading towards marriage.”
“Being virtuous and gentle, we don’t need to say much about that. But loyalty is the most important! There’s no messing around for either of us—no flings, no cheating…”
He watched Wen Yang’s expression closely, afraid his words would offend him.
Wen Yang nodded in agreement: “That makes sense.”
Yeah, after tasting the real deal, you probably won’t think like that anymore.
Ning Chu smirked inwardly at his protagonist but was relieved that Wen Yang was still a virgin, shy but with some naïve idealism about love.
Love in “Little Emperor Wen”… really, it’s better not to expect anything.
“The rain is getting heavier.”
“Yeah, I’m getting wet…”
Wen Yang glanced at Ning Chu, half-drenched from the rain, and offered his umbrella, “Here, switch. My umbrella is bigger.”
“Huh? But what about you?” Ning Chu was startled by his sudden kindness.
“I’m fit. A little rain doesn’t bother me.”
“Don’t…”
Ning Chu’s mouth twitched, and his gaze instantly turned suspicious, looking at Wen Yang as if he were a can of weird cat food.
Could it be that he was so nice to Wen Yang that he couldn’t wait for the plot to develop into a brotherly relationship with benefits?
“I’m not bad myself,” he quickly shook his head and took a couple of steps back from Wen Yang, looking like a wary little alley cat.
With his goodwill rejected, Wen Yang looked at Ning Chu’s flickering eyes then glanced down at his chest: “But you’re getting wet, and it’s kind of obvious.”
“…”
The colorful patterns on his short-sleeved shirt did a decent job of concealing the little red beans—until the rain soaked the fabric and clung to his skin, minimizing the disguise’s effectiveness.
“It’s just a little chill from the rain,” Ning Chu stubbornly explained.
He instinctively crossed an arm over his chest, shielding himself from Wen Yang’s gaze, while casually propping the elbow of the umbrella arm on his forearm.
“Well, it’s because you insisted on going out in this downpour!”
“I wasn’t dragging you along…”
Embarrassment and shame flushed his face bright red, and he deliberately slowed his pace, falling a step behind Wen Yang.
Luckily, as they stepped out of the school gates, the coffee shop’s front came into view, sitting conveniently across the street.
From a distance, peering through the glass, Ning Chu could vaguely make out a figure in a black-and-white maid outfit.
Wow~ A maid café! No wonder Wen Yang braved the rain to come!
Too bad she’s not a catgirl! That would’ve spiced things up a bit.
